Shell cutting capacity at Singapore refinery
Published by Nicholas Woodroof,
Editor
Hydrocarbon Engineering,
The refinery on Pulau Bukom, a small island in the Southeast Asian city-state, can process 500 000 bpd of oil and is Shell’s largest wholly-owned refinery worldwide.
The move brings the total refining capacity cuts by Shell in recent months to 571 000 bpd, or just over a fifth of its capacity globally.
Shell aims to reduce the number of its refineries as part of a drive to slash CO2 emissions to net zero by 2050 and restructure its operations by reducing its oil and gas business and expanding its renewable energy and power division.
As part of the plans, Shell is cutting the number of oil refining and petrochemical sites it will keep operating to six from 14. Besides Pulau Bukom, the other sites are in Texas and Louisiana, US, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada.
Shell has announced plans to convert its Philippines refinery into an import terminal and shut its largest US facility in Convent, Louisiana.
In September, Shell said it planned to cut up to 9000 jobs globally, or more than 10% of its workforce.
“Bukom will pivot from a crude-oil, fuels-based product slate towards new low-carbon value chains. We will reduce our crude processing capacity by about half and aim to deliver a significant reduction in CO2 emissions,” Shell said in a statement on Tuesday.
The company will cut 500 jobs by the end of 2023 at the site, which now employs 1300 staff, a Shell spokeswoman said.
“We will progressively make changes in our refinery configuration over the next three years,” she said.
In Singapore, Shell said it was studying the production of products that would still be viable following its energy transition, such as biofuels and specialities like bitumen.
It is also looking at using different raw materials, or feedstocks, such as recycled chemicals. Shell operates a plant at Bukom that produces 800 000 tpy of ethylene.
In Singapore, Shell said it would expand its solar power generation, including utility-scale plants, build electric vehicle charging points, provide carbon-neutral solutions for its customers and study plastic waste recycling.
Shell is also expecting its first bunkering ship for LNG to arrive in Singapore later this year. It will be operated by FueLNG, a joint venture with Keppel Offshore & Marine.
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/12112020/shell-cutting-capacity-at-singapore-refinery/
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